Early the next morning, just as dawn broke, Li Pu brought along his straw puppet and followed the stream of new students to the southern gate of the school.
At this moment, the gathering point was already filled with approximately a thousand new students.
Under the coordination of several senior students, they stood in a relatively orderly manner.
Although Xidu University has the word Xidu in its name, it is quite a distance away from the city of Xidu due to its nature as a Summoner Academy, not even situated in the suburbs.
Outside the southern gate lies an endless forest.
It was early morning, so a low-visibility mist lingered among the trees.
In front of the new students was a forest path over 50 meters wide.
The trees on both sides were studded with unknown luminous crystals, which were quite conspicuous.
Especially, the light from these crystals could effectively penetrate the mist, becoming a tool to guide the way.
At that moment, a senior student in red, with a neat ponytail, walked to the front of the crowd.
On her shoulder perched a summoning beast resembling a hedgehog, except its spikes grew forward, and its body was entirely golden.
The ponytailed senior showed no expression, exuding a hint of heroism in her demeanor. Combined with her pleasant appearance and figure, she immediately drew most of the new students' attention, regardless of gender.
A flurry of soft discussions arose among the group of new students.
"What a cool senior..."
"Ah! The senior seemed to glance at me just now!"
"You useless bunch, you should be looking at her summoning beast instead!"
"Indeed, that's a C+-level Golden Needle Rat, its potential far surpasses our summoning beasts."
"I've heard that after the first transformation, this summoning beast can immediately advance to B-level."
Besides her appearance, some also focused on her summoning beast.
Li Pu, however, paid no attention to either; getting up so early made him a little drowsy.
At this moment, the senior student began speaking calmly.
"Dear junior students, welcome to Xidu University."
"I won't say much more unnecessary words."
"Now, let me talk about the rules for course selection."
It turns out that this course selection race is not simply about speed.
Though this track looks like it directly leads to the end, in reality, there are many forked paths along the way that require decisions.
Choosing different forks will face different obstacles.
It could be wild magical beasts, specifically set traps, detours leading back to the start, or even encounters with senior students participating personally.
Of course, someone will secretly escort everything.
However, once protection is triggered, it is considered elimination.
The earlier the elimination, the further back the course selection order will be.
Waiting at the unified finish line are the teachers for this course selection.
Each teacher has limited teaching slots; the sooner you arrive, the higher your chances to choose your desired teachers and courses.
"I've heard only two teachers teach [Blink], with a total of 200 slots."
"My requirement isn't high, just getting into the top 200."
"I want to learn [Healing]."
"[Golden Slash] is still more impressive."
After hearing the senior's introduction, the new students were already eager to try.
As soon as the official start was announced, more than half of the new students couldn't wait to rush out, disappearing into the forest quickly.
Li Pu wasn't in a hurry, hobbling along with the remaining large group.
He was already quite familiar with such forest environments, so he was more at ease than others.
Moreover, the race didn't sound that easy; rushing ahead early might only be paving the way for others.
[Grass~]
The straw puppet evidently was in a good mood in this environment, bouncing around beside Li Pu.
The straw puppet's unique cry attracted quite a few people's attention around.
"It's him, our double top scorer upon entrance."
"What a pity, the summoning beast turns out to be a straw puppet..."
"Looks like he won't be able to take first place this time."
"Well, one less competitor for the course selection."
The story of the straw puppet defeating the Rolling Turtle yesterday hadn't spread yet; the whispers around all expressed a lack of confidence.
They acknowledged the impressive title of top scorer in the college entrance exam and physique test, but they also had to admit that they've now stepped into the world of summoning beasts.
Summoning beasts are the primary combat strength.
The straw puppet, evidently not worth mentioning.
Li Pu, however, didn't care about these opinions.
His straw puppet was destined to become the Fireball King straw puppet, something ordinary summoners couldn't comprehend.
"Bro, which course do you want to select?"
At this moment, someone proactively approached Li Pu.
Li Pu turned to see that it was Wu Guinan, whom he had sparred with on the arena the day before, followed by that Rolling Turtle beside him.
[Roll!]
Rolling Turtle: Morning, Grass Bro!
[Grass?]
Straw Puppet: Morning, got money?
[Roll?]
Rolling Turtle: I'm greeting you, and you're trying to rob me?
Before the two formally conversed, their summoning beasts first exchanged greetings.
"Actually, there's a question I've always wanted to ask you."
Wu Guinan seemed naturally sociable, getting closer at once.
"?"
Li Pu showed a look of confusion.
Wu Guinan: "Your leg..."
Li Pu: "Born with it."
Wu Guinan: "No, I meant does your leg give extra points in the exams?"
Li Pu: "..."
"It should be [Blink], this is the most practical."
Li Pu directly ignored that dialogue, jumping back to the original question.
"Indeed, everyone wants to pick [Blink]."
Wu Guinan nodded, then glanced around and lowered his voice again, "I've gotten hold of some news, let me share it with you."
"For our batch, there are two teachers teaching [Blink]."
"One male, one female. If you get the chance, you must choose the female teacher."
"Because she's the director of the Wise Department, exceptionally powerful."
"The other is just an ordinary teacher of the Wind Chasing Department, not exactly bad, but relatively inferior."
The strength of a teacher can greatly influence the effectiveness of teaching.
"Seems like you've done some investigation beforehand."
Li Pu glanced sideways, raising his eyebrows.
"Of course, you see, I am at least..."
Wu Guinan stopped halfway through his sentence, changing his tune, "Anyway, our batch will have a new teacher as well. I don't know which skills exactly they teach, but it's best to avoid them."
"I've heard that person couldn't make it in the Imperial Capital and ended up here, probably not that great."
It was clear that Wu Guinan seemed to have some background, but Li Pu just nodded, not asking further.
As they conversed, they joined the large group walking down the forest path.
However, they hadn't walked too far before realizing something was amiss.
The batch of new students who rushed out first, about several dozen, stood right in front of them.
All with miserable expressions, not advancing.
"Don't come any closer, there's a magical beast here!"
Seeing the group behind approaching, someone shouted a warning.
But speaking up at this moment seemed a bit late.
Rustle rustle rustle...!
A dense rustling sound surged from beneath everyone's feet.
"Not, not good!"
Seeing this, Wu Guinan's face changed, grabbing Li Pu to speed up and rush through.
However, just as he lifted his foot, several green vines quickly entangled him.
Then, due to inertia, he was tripped and fell to the ground.
"It's a magical beast!"
Amid the exclamation, Wu Guinan looked at Li Pu, only to be stunned on the spot.
Because this guy was just standing there, holding two severed green vines in his hand.
What the heck does this mean?
Tearing apart a magical beast with bare hands??
...
...